Ciudad Juarez interview preparation
Plan for at least 3 business days. Register your appointment online before arrival. Complete your medical exam at least 3 days before the interview. Do not bring electronics to the consulate.
Ciudad Juarez logistics
- Plan for a minimum stay of at least 3 business days in Ciudad Juarez.
- There are two separate consular appearances over one to two business days.
- Register your appointment online before arriving. Failure to register may result in rescheduling.
- Complete the Applicant Service Center (ASC) biometrics and photo appointment before your interview. This is a separate appearance from the interview itself.
- Complete your medical exam in Mexico with a DOS-authorized panel physician at least 3 days before the interview.
- Arrive no more than 30 minutes early and not before 6:00 a.m. on your appointment day.
- Extensive prohibited-items rules apply; there are no lockers. Do not bring electronics, large bags, or food.
- If your visa is approved, your passport is typically returned later via DHL courier rather than at the interview.
Document pack model
The following document categories are drawn from the Ciudad Juarez CDJ checklist and the U.S. Department of State Step 10/11 interview guidance. Bring originals and photocopies where indicated. Verify the current official CDJ checklist before packing.
Core packet (all family-based applicants)
- Valid passport (valid at least 6 months beyond intended entry date)
- Photocopy of passport biographic page (CDJ-specific requirement)
- NVC interview letter (bring a photocopy)
- DS-260 confirmation page (printed)
- Two identical color photographs
- Civil document originals or certified copies, plus one photocopy of each (documents uploaded to NVC/CEAC)
- Translation packet for any document not in English or Spanish
- Birth certificates for all children of the principal applicant, even if not accompanying
Conditional documents (bring if applicable)
- Marriage certificate
- Proof of termination of all prior marriages (divorce decree, death certificate, or annulment)
- Police certificates (see conflict note below about recency threshold)
- Court, military, adoption, custody, and stepchild records where required
Appointment and print items
- NVC interview letter (photocopy)
- DS-260 confirmation page (printed)
- CDJ pre-interview checklist (printed from official CDJ page)
- Medical appointment or interview letter for the panel physician clinic
- AIS/ASC appointment confirmation printout. Whether this is required at interview is unresolved; bring a printout to be safe
Sponsor and financial support packet (family-based)
- Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) for each financial sponsor
- Form I-864A (Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member) if applicable
- Form I-864EZ (simplified Affidavit of Support) if eligible
- Most recent federal tax return or IRS transcript, with W-2s and schedules where applicable
- Current income or asset evidence where applicable
- Proof of petitioner U.S. legal status and domicile
- Relationship evidence for family-based cases
Items that require official verification
The following items have unresolved conflicts between official U.S. Department of State sources. Do not treat any of these as settled. Check the current CDJ supplement and official instructions before your appointment.
Sponsor packet at interview (I-864 / financial evidence)
General DOS Step 10 guidance says you do not need to bring the Affidavit of Support or financial evidence already submitted to NVC. The Ciudad Juarez checklist says to bring Form I-864 for each financial sponsor, tax evidence, W-2s, proof of petitioner status and domicile, and relationship evidence. These instructions conflict.
For Ciudad Juarez, bring a full printed sponsor packet but keep the conflict visible. Do not rely only on the general Step 10 guidance.
Verify whether all already-submitted financial evidence is mandatory at the interview with the current official CDJ instructions.
Police certificate recency threshold
General DOS guidance states police certificates must be issued within the past two years. One version of the CDJ HTML guidance states certificates must be issued within the past one year. The CDJ PDF supplement states two years. These three official formulations are not reconciled.
Do not encode a single settled threshold. Treat police-certificate recency as unresolved and verify directly with the current official CDJ checklist before travel.
Verify the operative one-year vs. two-year threshold for Ciudad Juarez against the current official CDJ instructions.
Bilingual CDJ wording differences
The English and Spanish versions of the CDJ checklist diverge on some sponsor and status details and timing language. User-facing rules that depend on language-specific wording should be verified directly against both the English and Spanish official materials.
Preserve both language formulations in source-backed records rather than normalizing them to a single version.
Any rule that depends on language-specific wording should be verified against both the English and Spanish official CDJ materials.
Checklist
Document library
Preparation guides
This prep page is tied to a narrow interview context and should be read alongside the linked live official source.
This page includes time-sensitive or post-specific material. Recheck the live official source before relying on any current requirement.
Sources used on this page
- Ciudad Juarez Consulate: Immigrant Visa Information (English)Official sourcePost-specific
Why this source is here: Post-specific guidance for Ciudad Juarez immigrant visa interviews. Bilingual CDJ checklist (A01 in research pack). Source ID S17.
- Consulado Ciudad Juarez: Informacion de Visas de Inmigrante (Spanish)Official sourcePost-specific
Why this source is here: Post-specific guidance in Spanish for Ciudad Juarez. Source ID S18. Bilingual alignment noted with some wording differences from English version (conflict I03).
- Step 10: Prepare for the Interview (DOS)Official source
Accessed:
Why this source is here: Generic IV interview-preparation step. General DOS guidance on what to bring to the immigrant visa interview. States not to bring already-submitted AOS/financial evidence. Source IDs S01/S02 in research pack.
- Maintained Source PolicyProject policy
Why this source is here: Project governance reference for how canonical source-backed content should be maintained.
This hub summarizes stable prep steps from official U.S. Department of State and Ciudad Juarez consulate guidance. Post-specific instructions and logistics can change, so check the linked official source before your appointment.